A crowded show for you this week, a sequel to #599 that takes a different tack, looking not at the alienating effect of money, but the liberating effect of its absence. Our first speaker, Nipun Mehta talks of the massive land redistribution in India prompted by simply requesting rich landowners to give land to the poor. He shares details of some of his inspiring experiments with money in USA, such as the Karma Kitchen, a restaurant which for years has been allowing guests to pay what they like. People behave very differently, he explains, when they are not assumed to be selfish.

Our second piece, from last month, is about Daniel Suelo, a resident of Moab, Utah, who last used money over a decade ago. We hear Mark Sundeen, whose biography of Suelo, The Man Who Quit Money, has just been published. We hear how Daniel Suelo was inspired to give up money by reflecting that nature works on a gift economy basis but that the fiction called money seems so important to so many people in modern society. As well as the practical points of how Suelo lives and what he does, we hear some of his philosophy and why a return to using money would be 'absurd' for him.

In our second hour, we hear a radio adaptation of Paul Grignon's Money As Debt III. This begins by asking whether people naturally tend towards greed and selfishness -- or whether this is a response to a scarcity-based money system. The film explains the problems of the current money system in more detail, and explains why a return to gold-backed money -- in contrast to some notable Gold Bugs such as Ron Paul -- would be a hindrance rather than a help. Instead, it recommends a self-issued credit system, using technology to allow money to evolve to a higher, more system which was designed not by selfish plutocrats but by a group intending to engineer in principles of equity and abundance.Thanks to KUER for the Daniel Suelo interview.The theme of life beyond money is explored in episode 649. ★ Start a Discussion about this episode (Login Required)